Succor
by Kalimyre
Summary: In Bla-Z-Boy, right after the chair goes over the balcony, Marty comes upstairs and Niles runs down, looking for Daphne. This is what happens next.  N/D, complete.


**Succor**

In _Bla-Z-Boy_, right after the chair goes over the balcony, Marty comes upstairs and Niles runs down, looking for Daphne. This is what happens next.

Succor: _**noun**_: _relief, help, comfort, ease_

**000**

Niles paced anxiously back and forth in the elevator, then pressed the ground floor button a few more times. Daphne was okay. He knew that, he was aware of it, but he wouldn't really believe it until he could see her and hold her and know for sure.

When the chair had gone over the balcony railing, he and Frasier had yelled a warning to anyone below, but of course, nineteen stories down, nobody could hear them. It was sheer luck that Daphne and his father hadn't been five more feet further along the sidewalk. If they had…

Niles shook his head and scrubbed a hand over his face. They were both fine, he just had to remember that. Nobody had been hurt. They'd been very, very lucky. The only casualty was the chair itself.

Finally the doors opened on the lobby, and Niles darted out, past a startled bunch of people waiting to get on. He shouldered someone aside and ignored the yell of protest that followed him. Didn't matter. He didn't even look back to see who he'd run into. He burst through the front door and looked back and forth, trying to get his bearings.

His hands shook, and his breathing came fast enough to make him dizzy, spots dancing before his eyes. Niles forced himself to slow down, then hung a left and ran around the side of the building. There was the chair, or what was left of it, sitting in a pile of broken wood and torn upholstery. It was still smoldering, the smell of burnt fabric wafting out with the smoke.

A small crowd had gathered, but he couldn't see Daphne anywhere and his heart stuttered in his chest before galloping on at a breakneck pace. "Daphne!" he called. Heads turned, briefly curious, but no Daphne.

"Daphne, where are you?" he yelled again, pushing through the crowd.

"Hey," a man said, irritably, "watch it." Niles ignored him and rose up on his toes, trying to see over everyone's heads.

"What happened?" someone else asked.

"Some guy dropped a chair," a voice replied from his right.

"Was anyone hurt?"

"No," Niles said, not sure who he was speaking to. "Nobody was, Dad said they were fine, he _said, _she has to be somewhere…"

"Whoa, buddy, breathe," a man on his left said. Niles blinked at him, and suddenly there was a hand on his elbow, propping him up as he started to sway. "You okay?" the man asked.

Niles shook his head. "Where's Daphne?"

"Who's Daphne?"

"Let me go," Niles said, and pulled away. He backed out of the crowd and looked around wildly. Then a scraping sound behind him caught his attention and he spun. His breath caught in his throat and his knees went to jelly and he would have collapsed entirely if not for a nearby parking meter he managed to cling to. There she was.

"Daphne!"

She looked up, still busy dragging a large trash can forward. "Niles," she said, "good, can you give me a hand with this?"

Niles ran toward her and wrapped his arms around her as tight as he could. She let out a startled breath and stumbled, then regained her balance. "Niles?" she asked, patting his back.

"Daphne," he murmured. She smelled wonderful, and he pressed closer, nuzzling into the hollow of her neck. He could feel her breathing, feel the faint thump of her heart where their chests pressed together, and he sagged in relief. "Thank god you're all right," he said.

"Oh, Niles," she replied, fondly. "I'm all right, it didn't even touch us when it fell."

"It could have," he replied. He could feel her start to pull away and he clung stubbornly until she relented. "It could have, you could have been…"

"Hush," she soothed him, and he felt her hand card through his hair, her palm soft on the nape of his neck. "It's okay now, nobody was hurt. Just calm down."

He nodded, feeling steadier, but not quite ready to let her go. "I can't lose you," he whispered. "Not now, not when I just finally found you."

"I'm not going anywhere," she said. She kissed his cheek, his jaw, and when he lifted his head, she gave him a long, searing kiss that left him dazed. Someone in the crowd behind them gave an appreciative hoot, and Niles ducked his head, his cheeks burning.

"All right, show's over," she said to them, her voice hardening. "Unless you want to help us clean up, why don't you just move along."

That dispersed most of the rabble, and the rest drifted away after a few more minutes when it became obvious nothing else was going to happen. Niles sighed and relaxed his arms, then brought a hand up to cup Daphne's face. "I love you so much," he said quietly.

She smiled, and rested her forehead against his. "I love you too. But I'm not too fond of your brother at the moment. What was he thinking?"

"It was an accident," Niles replied. He helped her pull the trash can the rest of the way, and then they began loading the remains of the chair into it. "We were trying to put out the fire and it just toppled over. I was scared to death, I knew you and Dad were on your walk and I thought…"

"It just missed us," Daphne said. "Crashed down right in front of us. I thought your father was going to have a heart attack! I nearly did myself." She paused, and crossed her arms, shivering. "Come to think of it, that _was _pretty scary. Mr. Crane was just so angry and shocked I didn't even think about how much worse it could've been."

Niles dropped the last piece into the trash can and then went to her, pulling her into his arms. "I did," he muttered, and rested his chin on her shoulder. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about it."

She leaned against him, and he held her for a while, until he could finally feel the tight knot of fear in his chest unravel. "Come on," she said. "Maybe we'd better make ourselves scarce. I get the feeling your father and brother are having it out up there and I don't want to be in the middle of it."

"Good idea." He led her to his car, and headed back to the Montana. All the way there, he kept glancing over at her, making sure she was still there. She met his eyes with a flash of heat in her expression, and slid closer, putting one hand on his leg. Niles shifted in his seat and drove faster. He knew exactly how he wanted to celebrate their good fortune, and she seemed to be on the exact same page. Maybe even a little ahead of him, he thought as she slid her hand a bit higher. He grinned and cast her a speculative look from the corner of his eyes. Suddenly he couldn't wait to bring her home.

**000**

Daphne woke slowly, and stretched, enjoying the lazy, drowsy feeling of an indulgent afternoon nap. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, but she knew she was at Niles' place, the familiar cedar scent of his furniture surrounding her. The soft, steady sound of his breathing came from beside her, and she rolled. Throwing one arm over him, she snuggled up and pressed a kiss to his bare shoulder.

Niles twitched and muttered in his sleep, and his hand came up to grasp hers in an unconscious movement. She smiled. While it had been frightening when that chair had hit the sidewalk right in front of them, she hadn't been nearly as scared as Niles; maybe because she knew she was okay immediately, and he didn't. It had warmed her to see his need to reassure himself she was unhurt; she knew he loved her, but little reminders like this still made her happy.

She drifted for a while, remembering the way he'd kissed her in the elevator on the way up to his apartment. He hadn't even been able to wait until they got in the door. Daphne grinned and nuzzled his neck, inhaling the clean salt scent of his skin. Niles shivered, and his breathing caught, then sped. He murmured something in his sleep, slurred and soft.

"Niles?" she whispered.

"Mmm." His voice was rough, his eyes still closed, but she could feel his heart thumping under her hand. "No, Daphne, no," he said, the words all running together.

"Are you awake?"

"Please," he said, and shifted restlessly on the bed. "Please, no, no, Daphne…"

"Niles, honey, you're having a bad dream," she said, and shook his shoulder. "Come on, wake up, it's okay."

He moaned in his sleep, and the sound was so small and lost that she couldn't help wincing in sympathy. "Please, please," he muttered. "Oh Daphne _no_, _please_, you have to, I can't…"

"Niles!" she said, and shook him harder. "Wake up!"

He sat bolt upright, gasping for breath, and then turned wide, frightened eyes on her. "Daphne?"

"I'm here," she said. "It's okay, you were dreaming."

Niles reached for her with one trembling hand, and trailed his fingertips down her arm, as if he was afraid she'd vanish if he pressed too hard. "Daphne," he said. "Oh, Daphne." He pulled her close, and she went willingly.

"Hush," she murmured, and kissed the top of his head. His face was pressed against her neck, his breathing fast and shallow against her skin. He trembled all over and she stroked his back and rocked them back and forth slowly.

"I'm sorry," he said after a while, when the shaking had stopped. "I don't know why this is getting to me so badly. I know you're okay, that you weren't hurt."

"Don't be sorry," she told him. "It makes me feel good to know you were so concerned about me. But I don't want it to give you bad dreams either."

He was quiet, and she felt his hands tracing the length of her, sliding from her shoulder to her waist, her hip to her back, as if reassuring himself that she was whole. Eventually, he said, "I think it's because some part of me was convinced that this would happen. That something would happen, and I'd lose you."

"What do you mean?" she asked. "I'm right here."

"I know," he said. "Rationally, intellectually, I know that. But after seven years of wanting and hoping and wishing, I think there's some piece of my subconscious that can't quite believe you're finally mine. I've never been so happy in my life, and somehow I'm certain that it can't last. That nobody could possibly be this lucky for very long."

"Oh, Niles," she said, and kissed him, long and lingering. "Believe it."

He smiled into the kiss, and she felt some of the tension run out of him. "I may require a lot of persuasion before it sinks in."

She laughed softly. "Oh really? I can be very persuasive."

"You certainly can." He laid back and looked at her, and she was relieved to see that the worry had left his eyes.

"Tell you what," she said. "You keep on being the sweet, gentle, wonderful man I fell in love with, and I'll never want to leave. Deal?"

"Deal," he replied. "I'm going to hold you to that. Because I couldn't stand to lose you now, Daphne. I mean that. Before, if you'd married Donny after all, it would have broken my heart, but I could have somehow adjusted. Because then, I wouldn't know what I'd missed out on. But now? I just couldn't do it. I have too much to lose."

Daphne felt tears prickle at her eyes and she swallowed hard. "I couldn't either. It goes both ways, you know."

"I know," he said. "But feel free to remind me often."

"Every day," she said. "I promise."

**000**

**END**


End file.
